To save Earth from an alien probe, Admiral James T. Kirk and his fugitive crew go back in time to San Francisco in 1986 to retrieve the only beings who can communicate with it: humpback whales.
The most acclaimed Star Trek adventure of all time with an important message. It is the 23rd century, and a mysterious alien probe is threatening Earth by evaporating the oceans and destroying the atmosphere. In their frantic attempt to save mankind, Admiral Kirk and his crew must time travel back to 1986 San Francisco where they find a world of punk, pizza and exact-change buses that are as alien to them as anything they have ever encountered in the far-off reaches of the galaxy. William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy return as Kirk and Spock, along with the entire Star Trek crew.Written by
Robert Lynch <docrlynch@yahoo.com>
While attempting to escape from the security agents aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise, Chekov tosses his phaser to one of the agents. Although this is representative of 23rd century technology, this is never retrieved, along with his communicator and Starfleet ID badge. See more »
Goofs
When Kirk and Spock are riding the Muni bus, a crewmember with a camera is reflected in the window behind them. See more »
Quotes
[Kirk is pacing back and forth, considering a below-decks room in the Klingon ship for possible whale transport]
Kirk:
Scotty, how long is this bay?
Scotty:
About sixty feet, Admiral.
Kirk:
Can you enclose it to hold water?
Scotty:
[laughs]
I suppose I could. You planning to take a swim?
McCoy:
[sourly]
Off the deep end, Mr. Scott!
Kirk:
We got to find some humpbacks.
Scotty:
Humpbacked... people?
Kirk:
Whales, Mr. Scott, whales! Forty to fifty feet long and about 40 tons each.
See more »
Crazy Credits
The ending credits play on top of photos and clips from the film. See more »
Alternate Versions
The film was originally released in 1986, which was the 75th Anniversary of Paramount Studios. Accordingly, the opening logo for the film originally had the 75th Anniversary sign on it, as did the original video release. All subsequent video releases (and at least some 35mm film prints) have included the regular Paramount logo. See more »
This is likely the Star Trek film with the widest appeal, in that it's essentially a fish-out-of-water comedy with a little sci-fi thrown in. An unknown ship is approaching earth, broadcasting an indecipherable message, and destroying all planets in it's wake. The Enterprise crew figures out that the message is whale sounds, except that whales have been extinct for hundreds of years, so there's no one left to answer the ship. This leads our intrepid crew to slingshot around the sun to travel back in time in order to bring a whale to the future to save future earth. Once in modern day San Francisco (or 1980s San Francisco), the crew has a series of humorous encounters with cars, money, and punk rockers, while trying to secure a whale. It's all quite funny and entertaining, but it's not very "Trek." The characters are all still the characters we know and love, but the story is pretty much "Crocodile Dundee" "Coming to America" or "The Out-of-Towners" except with the Star Trek crew out of their element. But not to be too dismissive, it is a lot of fun and is never boring, which is more than can be said of most Star Trek films, which tend to be pretty hit-or-miss. The film also get bonus points for including my favorite Go-Go, Jane Wiedlin as an Alien Communications Officer.
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This is likely the Star Trek film with the widest appeal, in that it's essentially a fish-out-of-water comedy with a little sci-fi thrown in. An unknown ship is approaching earth, broadcasting an indecipherable message, and destroying all planets in it's wake. The Enterprise crew figures out that the message is whale sounds, except that whales have been extinct for hundreds of years, so there's no one left to answer the ship. This leads our intrepid crew to slingshot around the sun to travel back in time in order to bring a whale to the future to save future earth. Once in modern day San Francisco (or 1980s San Francisco), the crew has a series of humorous encounters with cars, money, and punk rockers, while trying to secure a whale. It's all quite funny and entertaining, but it's not very "Trek." The characters are all still the characters we know and love, but the story is pretty much "Crocodile Dundee" "Coming to America" or "The Out-of-Towners" except with the Star Trek crew out of their element. But not to be too dismissive, it is a lot of fun and is never boring, which is more than can be said of most Star Trek films, which tend to be pretty hit-or-miss. The film also get bonus points for including my favorite Go-Go, Jane Wiedlin as an Alien Communications Officer.